Category: Insurance

Certain life insurance policies are designed to pay death benefits to the beneficiaries and to be an investment vehicle for the policyholder. Work with your agent at AFI Insurance, serving Denver, CO and the surrounding area, to get more of the details because there are many options in these products that can be customized for your life goals and financial planning. 

To get an overview, let’s consider a basic explanation of two types of life insurance, which are Universal Life (UL) and Indexed Universal Life (IUL) to understand how these life insurance policies work.

Universal Life

Universal life insurance is available in many types that include fixed-rate models and variable-rate versions. For a UL policy, you make selections of equity accounts for the associated investments. Cash values are allocated to build up a fixed account.

Indexed Universal Life

If a UL policy is tied to the performance of a stock market index, then it is an IUL policy. The stock market index used may be the S&P 500, the NASDAQ 100, or others. No money is directly invested in any equity positions, only the overall index performance is used to calculate the financial performance of the IUL policy. This makes an IUL policy have more risk than a UL policy.

A Comparison of UL and IUL Policies

Both UL and IUL policies have a death benefit. Both have investment characteristics. An IUL policy can offer a cash accumulation that is tax-deferred for use in retirement. These IUL policies are used to insure a business owner as key-person insurance. They are also used for estate planning and have some upside potential if the equity index performs well over time.

Summary

UL and IUL products are very complex financial instruments and have specific uses that are not always good for everyone but can be effective for others. Work carefully with your tax advisor, investment advisor, and your agent at AFI Insurance in Denver, CO to get the information you need for considering these products as part of your long-term financial planning.

The Denver, CO area is a fast-growing city and metro area that offers a lot of opportunity to anyone that would like to invest in their own business. Those that are looking to start their own company still need to consider all of the risks that could impact their operations. One way that you can mitigate many of these risks is by getting a new commercial insurance policy, which can benefit a business owner in many ways.

Gives Protection for Liability

One risk that all business owners need to continue to be aware of is the risk of being sued for liability. No matter how careful you are and how diligent you are with your practices, there is still a risk that you could be found at fault for a customer’s injury or illness. If this occurs and there are damages, it could jeopardize the financial strength of your company. Fortunately, a good commercial insurance policy can mitigate these risks through liability insurance.

Protects Your Company Assets

No matter what type of company you start, there will become a sort of upfront investment to buy equipment and inventory. If you happen to be a victim of a fire, water damage, or even theft or vandalism, this entire investment could be wiped out. Because of this risk, you should make sure that you always have a good commercial insurance policy in place as the property protection could keep you solvent if an accident occurs.

Ultimately, having commercial insurance can protect your company in a lot of ways. Those that are in the Denver, CO area should contact the team at AFI Insurance to discuss their insurance needs and options. AFI Insurance could provide you with a lot of insight into your insurance needs and options for your company. 

Are you traveling to Mexico on vacation sometime soon? Unfortunately, your existing car insurance doesn’t cover you once you cross the border. Thankfully, you have a secondary option–a special kind of insurance designed specifically for international travel. Here are three tips from our AFI Insurance in Denver, CO team for purchasing Mexican specialty insurance.

Tip #1: Read Your Coverage Options Carefully

The insurance process in a foreign country like Mexico is much different than the one you are probably used to. That’s why it is so important to read your coverage options carefully. Make sure you select a high enough limit to cover you in the event of a serious incident and know whether your policy covers theft and vandalism, as not all do. Also, recognize that Mexican insurance deductibles are often listed as a percentage of the vehicle’s value instead of a set amount.

Tip #2: Consider Purchasing Legal Aid and Travel Assistance Coverage

Similar to purchasing car insurance in the United States, there are multiple different add-ons to consider buying. The two most important are legal aid and travel assistance coverage. Legal aid helps pay for any defense costs if you are arrested or detained while in Mexico. Travel assistance helps you continue the trip or return home if your vehicle is unrepairable or stolen.

Tip #3: Remember to Report Accidents Before Leaving Mexico

If you’ve encountered a situation that warrants using your policy, make sure you file a claim before leaving Mexico. An adjuster must see the damage before you return to the United States or it might void the policy.

Ready to learn more about Mexican specialty insurance or other types of coverage? Contact our AFI Insurance team today to schedule your appointment. We proudly serve the Denver, CO area.

Financial planners are very important professionals that help to ensure their customers are able to reach their financial goals. While financial planners do provide amazing service, the profession also comes with some risks. For those that are in the Denver, CO area, getting financial planner insurance is extremely helpful as it will protect you a number of different ways.

Liability Insurance 

When you get financial planner insurance it will provide you with extensive liability insurance. First, you will receive standard liability insurance that will provide you with protection for any accidents that occur on your premises. Additionally, you can receive professional liability insurance that could provide you with protection against any legal claims. This will prove to be very beneficial in the event you are found liable for any type of mistake or accident.

Property Protection 

A financial planner may also on a significant amount of business assets. Some common assets that can be owned by a financial planner can include computers and other electronics, office furniture, a company car, and a variety of other assets. Additionally, you will need to protect your place of business whether you own the property or lease it. A full financial planner insurance policy will provide you with coverage for all these business assets.

There are clearly many different benefits that come when you get a financial planner and insurance for your business. When you are looking for this type of insurance in the Denver, CO area, AFI Insurance is a great resource and organization to contact. When you reach out to AFI Insurance, the company will spend time with you to better explain the risks that come with being a financial planner. They will then get you into a policy that protects against these risks as much as possible.

Insurance can cover more than houses, boats, and cars in Denver, CO. If you can put a dollar value on your risk, you can insure it. Here are some interesting examples of specialty insurance:

Alien Abduction Insurance

A small insurance company in Orlando actually sells protection against alien abduction. You pay a one-time premium of just $9.95, and you’re protected for up to ten million dollars in damages and medical care. Of course, it’s a long shot that anyone’s going to file a claim, but if you’re worried about getting scooped up by a tractor beam, it’s nice to have options.

Lottery Insurance

Something you don’t really think about as a business owner: What if one of your employees wins the lottery and quits without notice? Well, a number of UK insurers have you covered for all of the expenses involved in restaffing the position.

Body Parts Insurance

You’ve probably heard of this one: More than a few celebrities have insured their trademark bodies parts, such as Heidi Klum covering her legs for $2.2 million and Gene Simmons covering his tongue for one million. It sounds silly, but it makes sense if you think about it. A celebrity has so much riding on their image, so Bruce Springsteen insuring his voice isn’t much different from a delivery driver insuring their car.

Specialty insurance doesn’t just cover "unusual" risks, it’s really about covering anything exceptional. In Denver, CO commercial buildings and homes that are worth well above typical market, values are often covered on specialty policies.

If you need something protected and your current provider won’t meet your needs, get in touch with AFI Insurance and see what we can do for you.

Financial planning is the road map that we use to get through life. When to buy a new car, when to start that business, which house to buy in Denver, CO. It all comes down to the financial plan. Unfortunately, many people fail to work insurance into their financial plan.

A number of things need to be considered when working insurance into that plan, including the expense of insuring everything that needs to be insured, and consideration of the safety net that it provides.

Simply put: what can you not afford to not insure?

Certainly we need to cover the basics. Home, car and recreational vehicles like boats, RV’s and so on, health insurance, life insurance and so on. We also need to consider the special needs associated with the risks specific to our own lifestyles and careers. Someone with an expensive home may need to consider their higher-than-usual liability risks, for instance.

As a general rule, any time a significant amount of money is changing hands, whether we’re buying a summer home, getting that promotion or Christmas bonus at work or building an addition to the house, we need to take insurance into consideration: Does this need to be insured, will this require renegotiating our current insurance plan, and what are we putting at risk if we don’t? As we upgrade our lives, we also need to upgrade our insurance.

If you’re not sure of how to work insurance into your financial planning, get in touch with AFI Insurance. We can help to guide you to the right plan for your life, your career, your assets, and your risk.

Commercial insurance covers a great deal more than you might imagine. That being said, there are some things that commercial insurance simply does not cover. For those that live or work in the Denver, CO area, the agents with AFI Insurance can help you find the policy that is going to work best for you.

For the most part, your commercial policy is going to cover a great deal including some repairs to your commercial structure. For those that do have a commercial policy, you are not likely to get any sort of coverage for flood or for flood repairs on your commercial policy. Much like a home insurance policy, your commercial policy is not going to cover flood simply because it is not the norm and is not super common in any one area. This means that since flood is not something that all buildings are at risk of, flood is nearly never covered on a standard commercial policy.

You can, however, add flood coverage if you live in an area where flood is possible or where flood is common. If your business is located near a body of water, in a flood plain, or in any area where flooding is possible and likely to happen, you are going to want to have some sort of flood coverage in place. This being said, taking the time to find a great policy that is going to work well and one that is going to be tailored to your company is a must. You should take the time to consider extra flood coverage if it is needed and you should take the time to make sure your policy works for you. For those that live in the Denver, CO area, the agents with AFI Insurance can help you to get your policy figured out.  

Life insurance is something that we can all benefit from. Being able to know that after we pass our loved ones are not going to struggle to pay final expenses can be very comforting. For those in the Denver, CO area, the agents with AFI Insurance can help you create your ideal policy.

Life insurance is not designated for one expense or other in most cases. When you take out a life insurance policy you are not naming what the money is to be spent on, but rather who the money is going to be paid out to and then they decide what to do with it. You can ask your family members to keep your final wishes in mind and can ask that they use the money to pay for a specific type of burial but there is no way that you personally can use your life insurance to pay for end of life expenses. A better way to go about it is to create a will that outlines what you want to be done with your body when you pass. You can then designate one person, or one beneficiary, to collect the life insurance and carry out those wishes.

You can also leave life insurance money to children, dependents, friends and more. The only stipulation is that if you are taking out a life insurance policy on another person, you have to have some sort of vested interest in them. This is to prevent people from taking policies out on strangers. The money from a life insurance policy can be used for any expense and is a great way to make sure that your family is well taken care of even after you pass. For those in the Denver, CO area, the agents with AFI Insurance can help you to get your perfect policy.

As we all know, there are many different types of insurances for just about every aspect of our lives. The reason being is that if you become ill, lose your job, have accidents with your property or vehicle, insurance kicks in to save money in what could otherwise be a financially draining situation. This is why when making a financial plan, the role of having insurance should be at the top of the list. The main types of insurance are homeowners, auto, life and health/disability insurance. Things to factor into your financial plan when it comes to insurance are how many people need coverage, ages of those covered, what level of coverage is needed and your financial situation you are currently in. Here are some highlights of the different types of insurance.  Also, you can talk to professionals at AFI Insurance, serving the Denver, CO.

Homeowners Insurance

The purpose of having homeowners insurance is it helps protect what is likely your biggest asset, your home. When a disaster like a fire or a flood hits your home the cost of repairs can be astronomical without insurance. Having a minimum of 75 to 80 percent coverage of the value of your home should be the standard to aim for when purchasing this type of insurance.

Auto Insurance

Being a good driver simply is not enough assurance that an accident will not occur and insurance is a legal requirement in most states. The different types of auto insurance range from simple minimal liability to full coverage. When considering what type you need things such as economic situation and driving habits are factors.

Disability Insurance

Even though disability insurance is not the first type of insurance people may think about when making financial plans, it is no less important than the more common types like homeowners and auto. Unpredictable accidents that may put you out of work can be stressful and very impactful to people’s lives. Having sufficient insurance that covers a large amount of your income can be a wise move in the unfortunate event of an accident.

Having an emergency fund is a component of any good financial plan and insurance is as important, if not more important. If you live in the Denver area, AFI Insurance of Denver, CO can help you with your various insurance needs. Give us a call or stop in to make an appointment with an associate to discuss the different types of insurance plans available.

 

You have taken the responsible step of buying an insurance policy for your business in Denver, CO. Do you know everything that is needed to keep your plan in good standing? An agent at AFI Insurance can help you understand your rights and responsibilities as a commercial insurance policyholder. Read on to learn more about commercial insurance.

What is business insurance, really?

Commercial insurance is essentially a contract between the consumer and the provider. You agree to pay a monthly premium and, in exchange for your business, the provider agrees to pay for damages related to your company.

An indemnity firm does not guarantee coverage of everything that happens to your business, which means that you may find yourself out of luck if your brick and mortar floods while you lack flood assurance. You may also find yourself at risk of losing coverage if you intentionally damage your business property for the sake of filing an indemnity claim. Arson by way of the company’s owner is the most common example of an individual harming the business in hopes of getting a big payout.

Others ways to forfeit coverage

Intentional damage and having limited coverage are not the only two ways to not get the most out of your commercial insurance plan. You lose all manner of protection when you fail to pay the premium in a timely manner.

The possibility of losing coverage and having to pay for everything out of your personal funds is why you should only purchase the commercial insurance policy that you know you can afford. An AFI Insurance agent can help you understand the details of commercial insurance so that you find the policy that works best for your business in Denver, CO. Call them today to get started with a quote!